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Volkswagen expands the availability of its EA888 in the Passat and revealed prices for the whole lineup.

Volkswagen’s new EA888 1.8-liter turbocharged and direct-injection TSI engine, already found in the Jetta lineup and in the Passat 1.8T SEL Premium, will now be available in the whole Passat lineup, being found under the hood of the 1.8T S, 1.8T Wolfsburg Edition, 1.8T SE, 1.8T SE with Sunroof, and 1.8T SE with Sunroof and Navigation.

The base price for the Passat 1.8T S is $20,895 when equipped with a five-speed manual transmission, while the Wolfsburg Edition is right in the sweet spot of the mid-size sedan market with a base price of $23,965. A six-speed automatic transmission is standard on this model.

The SE pricing begins at $24,475 with the five-speed manual, while the SE with Sunroof costs $26,395 and the SE with Sunroof and Navigation has a base price of $27,555. Volkswagen’s standard destination charge for the Passat is $820.

Designed to be lighter and more fuel-efficient, the new EA888 Gen 3 turbocharged and direct-injection four-cylinder powerplant features a number of refinements, such as a new thinwall cylinder block, a cylinder head with an integrated exhaust manifold, and attention to the reduction of friction.

The new 1.8-liter TSI engine is built at Volkswagen’s new engine factory in Silao, Mexico, part of the Volkswagen Group’s ongoing $5 billion investment in North America.

The 1.8T engine has a peak output of 170 horsepower at 4800 to 6200 rpm, matching the horsepower rating of the outgoing 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine, but delivered at 700 fewer revs.

VW said the new engine offers seven pound-feet more torque at 184 pound-feet, produced at just 1500 rpm—a whopping 2750 revs less than the outgoing 2.5’s torque figure.

All 1.8T Passat models now have electric power steering, in place of the hydraulic setup on the 2.5 models.

VW also explained the new engine also returns better EPA estimated fuel economy figures than the 2.5-liter unit. The Passat equipped with the 1.8T and a six-speed automatic transmission now gets 34 mpg on the highway, up from 31 mpg for the 2.5-liter engine. At the same time, the city mileage improves from 22 to 24 mpg, and the overall EPA estimated combined fuel economy is now 28 mpg compared with 25 for the outgoing five cylinder. On the manual transmission model, the EPA city/combined/highway fuel economy ratings have increased from 22/26/32 mpg to 24/28/35 mpg.

Improvements are performance-wise also. The Passat 1.8T goes from 0 to 60 mph in a manufacturer estimated 7.5 seconds, an improvement of 0.7 seconds over the 2.5-liter model. The 1.8T equipped with a six-speed automatic completes the same acceleration run in an estimated 7.9 seconds, down from 8.7 seconds with the 2.5-liter engine.

Next in-line to receive this engine is the Beetle during the 2014 Model Year.